In light of the megabucks being raked in by Transformers: Dark of the Moon, it's inevitable that there will be a Transformers 4. But it will be a sequel without the star of the first three films, Shia LaBeouf, who has made it clear that he's done with the giant effin' robots series. So who does the rumor mill suggest might take over as the new star? None other than the boyfriend of Transformers 3 babe Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

You know him better as action icon Jason Statham.

Latino Review points out that ShowbizSpy claims Statham is in the running to play the lead in the next film. "It's clear the franchise still has huge potential but with a new leading man capable of taking Transformers in a new, darker direction," according to the site. "Jason could be just the man to do that and his relationship with Rosie would be an added bonus in marketing the movie."

This could all be crap, mind you, but Statham's turns in The Transporter trilogy, The Italian Job and Death Race (which co-starred Transformers' Tyrese Gibson) show he's not averse to making action movies with cool cars in them.

With Transformers: Dark of the Moon earning a massive $1.124 billion at the worldwide box office and sitting at No. 4 on the all-time list, a fourth film was to be expected. We've now learned that Paramount Pictures is eyeing a 2014 release date for the next film, though it has not been confirmed whether Michael Bay will be back in the director's chair.

There's still plenty of dates open in June and July of 2014 if the studio wants to go with a similar release date as the first three movies. The first was released in July of 2007, followed by the second in June of 2009 and the third in June of 2011.

We have also learned that Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg will start shooting Michael Bay's Pain and Gain in Miami in April. That film is based on the true story of a group of bodybuilders who get caught up in a criminal enterprise in Florida.

Earlier today, at a Hasbro event for Paramount's G.I. Joe: Retaliation, ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype had a chance to talk with producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura about the prospects of doing another "Transformers" movie.

"We’ll be there in the summer of 2014," he confirmed, as well as addressing (albeit vaguely) whether Michael Bay will be returning as director or not. "Michael had a debate because he sort of felt at first that he'd done three. Michael and I are both the same in that we always like to top ourselves. That doesn't necessarily mean bigger. It can be bigger in places, it just means different, but we're going to push really hard as fresh and new as we can be."

He compares doing a fourth "Transformers" movie to what they're doing with the "G.I. Joe" sequel by having a few characters return as well as telling a story that does follow-up from a plot set-up in its predecessor without necessarily fully "rebooting." "Again, we're going to try to do a hybrid there where there will be some characters that come forward--we think, we're still in the process of figuring it out--and some characters that don't, but it will definitely be a different story."

In the next month, Di Bonaventura will be finishing up G.I. Joe and preparing for Steven Soderbergh to start filming The Bitter Pill/The Side Effects in New York City--it was actually Di Bonaventura’s first project as a producer post-Warner Bros.--but we did ask about some of the other sequels he has in development.

RED 2, the sequel to Di Bonaventura's hit action movie, is going to shoot in the fall and while he wouldn't tell us who is directing, he did confirm it would be a different director from the first movie.

They're still working on the script for a planned sequel to his other hit action movie Salt, although they'll also have to wait until Angelina Jolie is ready to do that movie. "I would not want to see 'Salt' without Angelina personally," he told us. "I haven't seen the 'Bourne' trailer but everyone tells me they've figured out how to make that transition really well."

Look for more with Di Bonaventura and some of the cast of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, including Dwayne Johnson, at SuperHeroHype later this week.

Following up on a story we posted earlier today about Transformers 4, director Michael Bay added the following confirmation on his official site:

There has been a lot of speculation about what I'm going to do next and when or if I will do another Transformers. So let me set the record straight.

I have just concluded a deal with Paramount to do two movies, but it won't be two Transformers.

I will first do 'Pain & Gain' with Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

Then I will do the next Transformers for release on June 29, 2014.

-Michael Bay

To reiterate, producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura told us earlier that "we're going to try to do a hybrid there where there will be some characters that come forward--we think, we're still in the process of figuring it out--and some characters that don't, but it will definitely be a different story."

E! Online is running a story with quotes from Josh Duhamel saying that he doesn't think any of the cast members of the first three "Transformers" movies are returning for Transformers 4 because "they haven't called me."

It's a possibility that not all (or any) of the cast members may return, but it seems a little early. Michael Bay just signed to direct the fourth installment on Monday, but he'll be directing Pain and Gain first before he turns his attention to Transformers 4.

Duhamel went on: "I don't think anybody's doing it. I know Shia [LaBeouf]'s not doing it. I don't think Tyrese or Rosie [Huntington-Whiteley] or anybody else is doing it. Whenever these movies make that much money they're going to make as many as they can. [But] I haven't heard anything about it."

If there will be a new cast in place, who do you think should star? Transformers 4 will be hitting theaters on June 27, 2014.

With "Transformers: The Ride-3D" now open at Universal Studios Hollywood, film franchise director Michael Bay stopped by the ride and spoke with The LA Times about his plans for his fourth -- and, as he stated recently final -- Transformers film, set to hit theaters on June 27, 2014.

“It’s not a reboot," Bay said, reiterating that the new film will have an all-new cast. "That’s maybe the wrong word. I don’t want to say 'reboot' because then people will think we’re doing a 'Spider-Man' and starting from the beginning. We’re not. We’re taking the story that you’ve seen — the story we’ve told in three movies already — and we’re taking it in a new direction. But we’re leaving those three as the history. It all still counts... We’re moving on to something different.”

Though the script, currently being drafted by Ehren Kruger, is not yet final, Bay hints that one place the fourth film may go is into outer space.

"That feels like the way to go, doesn’t it?" says Bay. "I want to go a little off [the planet] but I don’t want to go too sci-fi. I still want to keep it grounded."

No matter what, Bay says that one element of the new production is to scale back the budget somewhat to around $165 million, about $30 million less than 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Speaking of smaller scale, Bay recently wrapped his dark crime comedy Pain and Gain for the studio. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson, it follows a group of bodybuilders who engaged in a campaign of kidnapping, extortion and murder in Florida.

A quick fun thing for you Transformers fans here - check out this Transformers hats that will actually transform into a robot, courtesy of Fashionably Geek. No word on whether these hats are actually something you'd want to wear on your head or whether it's just something for your desk, but they certainly look really cool.

They're available for pre-order at The Big Bad Toy Store and you can choose between Captimus Prime and Capticon.

It seems that the story for Transformers 4 will be heading in a new direction. President and CEO of Hasbro Brian Goldner spoke at the UBS Best Of Americas 2012 Conference (via TFW2005 and Bleeding Cool) where he discussed the company's plans for the future, including what they've got in store for the Transformers film series.

While Transformers: Dark of the Moon did well at the box office ($1.1 billion worldwide) it didn't do so well at the one thing these kind of films are made for...selling toys. With this idea in mind, the company wants the fourth film to include an all new cast of robot characters with a story revolving around them (so they can sell more toys). This isn't a totally shocker as Michael Bay has said previously that the film will feature 'an all new cast,' thought we never interpreted that to mean the robots too. Economically this decision makes sense for Hasbro and, frankly, weren't we all getting a little tired of seeing the same old Autobots fighting the Decepticons? Maybe now they can bring in the much longed-for Dinobots.

The fourth film is currently being penned by Ehren Kruger with Bay back as the director. It is said to be a slightly smaller film in budget than the previous movie and Bay hopes to have some of it take place 'off planet.' Bay also says this will be his last outing in the director's chair for Transformers and that he's making way for a new director to take over the 'new trilogy.'

Two weeks ago, a rumor started to make the rounds that Mark Wahlberg would be playing the lead human role in Transformers 4. Director Michael Bay quickly squashed it and said they were just working on another project and that rumor was just a rumor. Last week, however, Bay posted this on his website:

"I squashed a rumor that was on the internet last week. It was about Mark Walhberg. Mark was rumored to be staring in Transformers 4. We are working on another movie together, not T4. I had such a great time working with Mark on Pain and Gain, and he gave such a great performance – well let’s say that very internet chatter gave me some ideas. We are at the inception of our story process right now on T4. Let’s say some ideas are gaining traction with me and my writer – so I’m here to say thanks internet chatter."

While this is by no means an official announcement, maybe we will be seeing Mark Wahlberg say hello to Optimus Prime's mother after all.

Transformers 4 is currently in development for a June 27, 2014 release. Bay has said in the past that this is likely the final Transformers adventure with him at the helm. Ehren Kruger is providing the screenplay which is rumored to take the storyline into outer space with a brand new cast of both humans and robots.

Following his previous post suggesting that Mark Wahlberg could wind up with a role in the upcoming Transformers 4, Michael Bay has made if official: Wahlberg has joined the cast of the June 27, 2014 release. What's more, Bay has also revealed the logo for the sci-fi adventure sequel.

“Mark is awesome," Bay says in an official statement. "We had a blast working on 'Pain and Gain' and I’m so fired up to be back working with him. An actor of his caliber is the perfect guy to re-invigorate the franchise and carry on the Transformers’ legacy.”

Transformers 4 will begin production in spring of 2013. The film will be produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian.

In the wake of official word breaking that Mark Wahlberg has signed on to headline the upcoming Transformers 4, director Michael Bay spoke with TMZ about the upcoming blockbuster, revealing that the new franchise entry will pick up four years after the events of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

"The movie is going to continue four years from the attack on Chicago," says Bay, "which was in the last movie. It's going to have the same lineage, but it's going in a full new direction. It actually feels very natural how it's going in that direction... We're doing a lot of things that are really going to make it fresh and feel new."

You can listen to the full interview, which includes details about how Wahlberg's casting came about, by clicking here.

Transformers 4 will begin production in spring of 2013, targeting a June 27, 2014 release. The film will be produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian.

With Mark Wahlberg the first official cast member of the upcoming Transformers 4, director Michael Bay is currently casting new talent to play two of the film's other key roles. Today, The Hollywood Reporter has a list of five men and two women who are said to be reading for the role of a female high school student (and daughter of Wahlberg's character) and her boyfriend, a racecar driver.

The list of male actors is said to include Luke Grimes (Taken 2), Landon Liboiron ("Terra Nova"), Hunter Parrish ("Weeds") Jack Reynor (The Delivery Man) and Brenton Thwaites (Maleficent), while the list for actresses has both Isabelle Cornish ("Home and Away") and Nicola Peltz (The Last Airbender) (the latter is pictured below with Wahlberg).

Although the actors and actresses listed above are said to be auditioning, there's no guarantee that the list represents the entire talent pool from which Bay will be selecting his leads. Check back for official confirmation as soon as it becomes available.

Transformers 4 will begin production in spring of 2013. The film will be produced by Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian.

UPDATE: THR's Borys Kit has tweeted the below addendum to the original story: